Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) have been deployed in the U.S. since 2012. The initial rules for WEA included an English language alert message that does not exceed 90 characters of alphanumeric text, with three classes of alert messages defined: Presidential Alert, Imminent Threat Alert; and Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alert. The alert message comprised five mandatory elements—event type, area affected, recommended action, expiration time (with time zone), and sending authority. Further, the alert message could not include a universal resource locator (URL), which can be used to download content from a network source associated with the URL, or telephone number, so as to minimize potential congestion impacts to the communication network. Since the adoptions of these initial rules, there have been on-going discussions relating to enhancements of the WEA system.
The above-described background relating to wireless networks is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current issues and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other contextual information may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.